Crossword Genius

Link to odd era finally ends in a foliated state (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

leafy

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'foliated state' is the definition.
'leafy' can be an answer for 'foliated' (thesaurus). I am unsure of the 'state' bit.

'link to odd era finally ends' is the wordplay.
'link' becomes 'l' (this could be a standard abbreviation of which I'm unaware).
'to odd' means one should take alternating letters.
'ends' means to remove the middle letters.
'finally' with its middle taken out is 'fy'.
The alternate letters of 'era' are 'ea'.
'l'+'ea'+'fy'='LEAFY'

'in a' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for leafy that I've seen before include "Abounding with trees" , "Full of foliage" , "Verdant" , "Like nice suburbs" , "Epithet applied to suburbs" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.